Mooimed Private Hospital continues surgeries amid a low intake of Covid-19 patients

The Hospital, equipped with 83 medical, surgical and ICU beds, provides excellent medical services to the greater North West region. Director and Head of the COVID-19 Task Team, Dr Kobus Slabber, says contrary to other hospitals in the province and around the country, Mooimed’s services and particularly its surgeries are continuing uninterrupted, as its capacity and services are determined by resources to their disposal.

‘We have been fortunate that our facility did not have to postpone the various elective surgeries on offer at Mooimed Hospital. We specifically focus on surgeries in the disciplines of orthopaedics, such as knee and hip replacements, urology, including lithotripsy and prostate procedures and our ophthalmology’, he says.

Dr Slabber says because the hospital is currently not inundated with Covid-19 patients, they are able to continue with their normal workload.

‘Mooimed is not a dedicated Covid-19 hospital. We do not admit acutely sick Covid-19 patients and only accommodate the overflow of stable patients from neighbouring hospitals, if needed, as per mutual agreement. We work in close collaboration with other role players in the community to ensure that we deliver the best care to the patients. Our Covid-19 admissions are thus determined by the need of the community,’ he says.

‘Should the need arise to open a Covid-19 ward, we will follow very strict isolation protocols to ensure that no patient or personnel are exposed to transmission risk. These include but are not limited to; strict access control to isolation area; dedicated staff assigned to the isolation ward; separate kitchen, pharmacy and cleaning access; and sterilization of areas where positive patients were accommodated,’ Dr Slabber explains.

Dr Slabber says the safety and security of patients and staff is foremost on the mind of the Hospital and strict measures are followed for admitting patients and visitors to the facility.

‘We have a satellite Covid-19 station, managed by Ampath laboratories, in the parking area outside the hospital and patients being admitted to our facility are tested before they can come for a procedure. We have also adopted safety measures which include the compulsory wearing of a mask, sanitising your hands before entering the building, maintaining social distancing and the compulsory screening and monitoring of temperatures to name a few. We have excellent cooperation from our tenant Doctors and services, which ensure that access and exposure to the facility are kept to a minimum. We are very thankful to our frontline workers for the pedantic manner in which they assert our safety protocols in order to keep Mooimed Hospital and its occupants safe. Their selfless attitude, endless optimism and tireless work ethics is admirable in these difficult times.’

Dr Slabber says MooiMed Hospital is open to negotiations around the provision of a Covid-19 vaccination programme should the Department of Health need assistance from the private sector.

Meanwhile, Board Chair, Dr Pieter Henning says the Hospital is currently undergoing massive internal changes under the new board and management, which will once again ensure that Mooimed attracts the best surgeons and doctors from around the country, while at the same time offering a full turnkey medical service to patients and the community at large.

‘We are extremely excited about the future of Mooimed and the impact it will have on our service delivery to the community. The new management team is dedicated to making sure our hospital is the preferred medical facility for Potchefstroom and the surrounding areas.’

Henning says more details will be made available over the next few weeks about the new direction Mooimed is moving towards.